AN ASSESSMENT OF VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY IN MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS”

Dr. Poornima Sharma, Dr. Keerti

Abstract

Vitamin B12 Deficiency is becoming a public health issue as it exists in more than 30% in adults and children in India. Although the classichematologic expression of vitamin B12 deficiency is a megaloblastic anemia, upto 28% of affected patients may have a normal hemoglobin level,and 17% may have a normal MCV. Doctors connect the health services to society and their health status would improve the public health. Thus thepresent study was done to find the prevalence of Vitamin B12 deficiency in doctors and to assess its correlates like age, gender, diet, exercise andsleeping habits, working hours. It was a cross-sectional population survey of the medical professionals conducted in the Government medicalcollege of Udaipur with a sample size of 90, calculated by epiinfo6. Simple random sampling was done to select the departments to include thedoctors. 72.3% doctors were found deficient in Serum Vitamin B12 levels, with 25.5% severely deficient. The association of Vitamin B12deficiency was found to be statistically significant with dietary pattern.